Engaging and Productive: Activities for 3 Year Olds

Your toddler has gained a lot of knowledge once they turn 3. Their development is seen through emotional, physical, and mental changes. The important thing here is to continue to help your kid enhance their skills and abilities by implementing different exercises appropriate for their needs. In this article, we’ll explore useful activities for 3 year olds to keep your toddler engaged during the learning process.

Best Activities for 3-Year-Olds

The best pastimes for toddlers are those that include the play element. It remains the main channel of how they learn. Play provides children with many sensory, physical, and cognitive experiences. Consequently, it strengthens brain connections, allowing them to develop physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally. So, let’s learn more about different exercises designed to improve those skills and abilities.

Cognitive Development Activities

At this age, your kid is fascinated by the world around them. They are eager to know everything at once. Their development is demonstrated in numerous manifestations, including clearer communication, understanding the opposite and similar objects, better memory, and some counting skills. 

To maintain this level of engagement in exploring new things, introduce your toddler to age-appropriate activities. Here are some things to do with a three year old that can help support their cognitive growth:

• Puzzles. Simple jigsaw puzzles with large, clear images improve problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Memory matching cards. Put cards with matching pairings lying face down. Ask your toddlers to flip two cards at a time to locate the appropriate combination. This exercise is very useful for boosting memory, concentration, and visual recognition abilities.
• Storytelling and reading. The task is straightforward: choose a simple book and read it with your kid. During the process, encourage them to predict what happens next or describe the tale in their own words. This activity enhances communication skills, understanding, thinking, and imagining.

These engaging exercises are perfect for improving cognitive development. With your help and instructions, your toddler will progress with each session, gaining valuable knowledge and skills for further life success.

Motor Skills Activities

Learning how to control their hands and fingers is a crucial skill for toddlers. It will help them in the future to take care of themselves, including buttoning clothes, lacing shoes, and performing other daily tasks independently. Each activity for 3 year olds focused on these abilities supports their development:

• Playdough. This exercise entails creating shapes, animals, and other objects. By doing these actions, your kid can significantly improve their hand strength and coordination.
• Building blocks. It’s a classic activity that suggests setting up small items to create structures and designs. This exercise necessitates precise hand motions, essential for improving fine motor skills.
• Sorting. Another popular activity involves using colorful objects or toys that must be sorted according to their size, shape, color, etc. Besides refining fine motor control, this one improves categorization abilities and concentration.

One of the primary tasks for parents is to help their toddlers lay the groundwork for critical self-care abilities they’ll use in the future. By regularly including these activities in your kid’s routine, they can build the fine motor skills required for more independence in their daily lives.

Social and Emotional Development Activities

At the age of 3, kids become more self-aware and can distinguish different emotions, react to the behaviors of others, and show affection to those they love. When your toddler goes through this stage, it’s important to support their mental health and social development. The following are popular activities to achieve these goals:

• Role-play games. This exercise can be adjusted to your kid’s preferences. For instance, you may dress in different costumes and use some props. When you engage in such activities, you help your toddler to improve awareness of social roles and become attentive to other’s feelings.
• Creating art crafts together. Drawing or painting with parents or other children promotes collaboration, communication, and sharing.
• On-spot and circle time discussions. While your toddler interacts outside with others, you can supervise them and ask questions like, “Have you noticed how [name] is drawn to your cars? Do you think she/he wants to play?” Sitting together, take turns talking about your kid’s day, feelings, or favorite activities, fostering listening skills, turn-taking, and verbal expression.

What to do with 3 year old when they have tantrums and get capricious? Your child’s social and emotional growth shapes how they interact with others and handle their needs safely. Therefore, helping them gain the necessary mental and social skills is vital for thriving in school and beyond.

Educational Games: Fun Things to Do with a 3 Year Old

80% of a child’s brain develops during the first three years of life. The more you stimulate its activity, the more responsive it’ll be later. That’s why engaging your toddler in learning games is important. Due to the unique needs of this age, every exercise must combine play and educational features. The following are fun activities to do with a 3 year old, perfect for entertainment and learning.

Board Games

These classic and simple games are incredibly beneficial for your kid’s development. The set consists of colorful boards and large pieces created with children’s age needs in mind. Each focuses on promoting basic skills, including color recognition, turn-taking, counting, and memory.

With numerous designs and themes, you can find a suitable option for any taste. Whether you’re looking for 3 year old boy activities that involve puzzles or pizza making for a 3-year-old girl – there’s a myriad of different choices to engage your little one.

Word Flashcards

Incorporating the play element, educational games with word flashcards are both productive and fun. Focus on sets that include the basic names of animals, colors, shapes, body parts, numbers, family members, and common objects. The best part of these cards is that they have corresponding pictures that those names refer to. In this way, your toddler will have fun by looking at the colorful images and learning new words at the same time.

Listening Games

How to entertain a 3 year old and enhance their listening abilities? Introduce them to thrilling games that focus on providing an enjoyable time and an educational aspect. The main benefit is that you can play these games wherever you are. For instance, when walking in the park, ask your kid to shut their eyes and listen to the sounds around them. Remember about the classic option – Musical Chairs, a great exercise to build listening and focus skills through play.

Tips for Engaging Your Toddler in 3 Year Old Activities

Encouraging your kid to participate in useful exercises may be a tricky task. They may reject your proposals for many reasons, including boredom, tantrums, etc. At these moments, it’s essential to support your little one in every possible way and stick to proven recommendations.

Setting Up a Routine

Similar to meal and sleep schedules, parents must establish a definite time for each learning session. Discuss this rule with your kid and plan the activities in a structured form. For starters, begin with interactive playtime that involves simple exercises and move on to more complex ones. It’s important to keep activities short and enjoyable, aligning with your toddler’s interests.

Balancing Fun and Learning

When engaging your kid in educational activities, you need to maintain the play and learning features. This is important for ensuring your toddler has a blast while exploring new concepts and ideas. Sorting colors, solving puzzles, and matching shapes are great examples of the required balance. As a result, your child will be eager to take on new challenges and play simultaneously.

Keiki World: Fun and Educational Activities for 3 Year Old

Prepare your toddler for an engaging journey to an enjoyable experience while learning. The Keiki App offers valuable content to help 3-year-olds strengthen their abilities in essential developmental areas:

• Staying on track. The materials focus on getting your kid ready for kindergarten.
• Homeschooling ideas. You can find a daily schedule for your child’s independent learning.
• Preschool worksheets. There are 300+ sheets for little learners to perform different tasks.
• Child brain development. This section includes fun brain-boosting activities.
• Speech practices. Simple speech exercises are meticulously designed for the 3-age needs and requirements.

Learning games, cartoons, printable worksheets, and skills enhancement are all available in the Keiki App. The list of recommended packs for 3-year-olds includes Toddler Calm Kit, Family Playdate Kit, Child Brain Development, Counting Basics, Creativity Boost, Dino Learning, and Speech Development Starter. 

The app offers flexible subscription plans of 1, 3, and 6 months, so you can conveniently pick the most suitable option. In addition, screen time is set at one hour per day, according to the recommended guidelines for 3-year-olds. So, you can have peace of mind when your kid engages with the Keiki’s learning content.

Conclusion

How to play with 3 year old to encourage their development and eagerness to learn? Find a balance between fun and education, introducing your toddlers to engaging activities. With a myriad of choices, you can quickly pick a suitable exercise and tweak it according to your child’s abilities. As a result, you’ll promote the necessary skill enhancement and help them learn more about this world.